GUATEMALA Huehuetenango

Huehuetenango’s extreme remoteness requires that nearly all producers process their own coffee. Fortunately, the region has abundant rivers and streams, making it relatively easy for producers to set up mills. Coffee cherries are carefully handpicked as they ripen. Once pulped, the coffee beans are moved to special tanks for fermentation. The coffee beans are then washed and sun dried, until the proper moisture content is reached.

Huehuetenango is well-known for its high altitude and consistent weather patterns. The region lies at a nexus of hot air sweeping eastwards from the Plains of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico and cool air rushing down from the Cuchumantanes Mountains. The meeting of this hot and cold air creates a microclimate that keeps frost in check and enables coffee cultivation at higher altitudes.